Eizac Chee didn’t want to be office bound for the rest of his life. Since his Dad was a surveyor, he became interested in building, so became a Civil Engineer. Now he’s working on Stage 2 of the new Rouse Hill Recycling Water Plant, which will allow 4.7 billion litres of wastewater to be recycled each year for residential use.

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and natural built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings.

The main focus of being a Civil Engineer, Eizac shares, is the managing of the contract itself, the micromanagement, making sure the policies and procedures are in place and coordinating between the contractor and the designers. “So I make sure the designs that have been submitted have been carried out by the contractors.” Eizac explains. “[We’re] building an extension of the existing water recycling plant. [I oversee] from ground up, bulk excavation, concreting of tanks, installation of equipment, electronics and monitoring equipment.”

As the current water recycling plan is being upgraded, still in use, on top of the recycling plant being extended with a whole new development, Eizac has to negotioate between a lot of people! “[I] write down interactions between the current plant and the new plant. So we go between the contractors and the operations guys to make sure everything is going to plan. Make sure the job’s not delayed, and is most efficient and conforms to the stringent requirements laid down the government bodies.”

“The traditional engineering approach was ‘on time, on budget’.” However, now, there’s a new focus on safety, managing people and the environment with a more holistic management style. “If there’s only one of me for a day, now I’m divided into ten parts. In that sense, it’s a really challenging when I come to work everyday. You can’t focus on one part of the project but, into ten different parts to make sure they’re all up to scratch.”

There’s no typical workday for Eizac, but he attempts to summarise it, despite this. Starting at 7.30am, Eizac is aware of what needs to be done for the day because it’s worked out the day before, with site inspections. “There might be an bulk excavation or cutting into the existing plant. There is a team brief, then go over safety procedures, what extra care should be taken, a run-down of daily activities, and get down to work. There’s no regular day, or not routine – there’s new challenges everyday.”

“It’s always dynamic,” shares Eizac, explaining why he’s passionate about the industry. “Everything’s on the move, always moving with no fixed day. Even if there’s a similar activity, it has different challenges and problems. It’s not just technical, but interaction with people – from asset owners, to contractors, subcontractors and day labourers, you get to know every aspect of the work from design to operations. You get into details, get to know how it all fits into the big picture.”

However, the plant is dynamic and challenging at the same time – and not just with keeping up with technology. “Whenever you get into a routine or a mindset – you gotta keep yourself updated, with people management, [as] different people are coming in all the time.”

“You must like to meet people – and some days you’re not feeling 100%. People skills are a bit more difficult as an engineer – sometimes focussing on getting the job getting done. At the same time, everything’s changing, you gotta get the job done, find out the ways to interact with new people and group people and group dynamics.”

Eizac loves creating a projects and seeing them grow, function and come to life and he hopes to handle his own project. “Ultimately I hope to … just to handle something on my own – to come out at the end of the day and say ‘who has handled this project or built this project’ –that sense of accomplishment that you’re in charge of that project.”

In the end, as a Civil Engineer, even if he’s not running the project on his own, he’s created infrastructure that is essential to our community – something, no doubt, to be proud of.

What studies are needed to be Civil Engineer?
The most direct – is to go to university and get a degree or tertiary education – get an engineering degree and start working from there.

You can go to TAFE and get a diploma. You can be an associate engineer or an engineering coordinator – then go on to get higher certificates.

There are a number of ways – some guys start off as a labourer and get interested in engineering construction then go from TAFE through to uni. A tertiary education would be essential.

Advice for people entering the industry?
Have an interest in building stuff and how it works. Academically, have good foundation in maths and science. It’s interest that counts - if you’re interested in understanding how stuff works, it would a good skillset for an engineer. Academics can be learnt at a later time in life.

The only thing I’d like to add, it’s the satisfaction of the job – we might be working long hours, or travelling a long way – but it’s the sense of the satisfaction, knowing the end products works, [that we did it], it keeps a lot a us going.

[sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_engineering
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/RecyclingandReuse/RecyclingAndReuseInAction/RouseHill.cfm]